1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to floor mats, and more particularly to a floor mats provided at entranceways to buildings or the like for removing dirt and debris from a person's shoes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many and varied type of floor mats have been used at the entryways to buildings to protect the appearance and cleanliness of interior spaces of the building. These mats provide a surface on which shoes may be scraped or rubbed to remove dirt or accumulated mud and debris from the shoes prior to entering the building.
Examples of such floor mats are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,944 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,471. These floor mats are basically constructed with a carpet-like top surface and generally must be lifted from the floor in the flat, open state since they have not been specifically constructed to be rollable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,768 discloses a rollable industrial grating made of glass fiber, however, the grating does not have a top surface constructed specifically to scrape dirt and debris from a person's footwear.
It is desirable that floor mats for scraping and cleaning mud and debris from a person's footwear possess certain characteristics. First, that the mat resist staining due to the dirt and debris which is rubbed onto the mat while in normal use. Furthermore, when used in an industrial environment in which the mat may be subjected to harsh chemicals or detergents, that the mat resist deterioration when subjected to such chemicals or detergents.
Secondly, it is desirable for such floor mats to provide a firm, anti-slip walking surface so as not to present a risk of injury to someone walking on the mat. While providing such a walking surface on its top most part, it is further desirable that the upper surface of the floor mat be configured to provide a scraping and cleaning action to the bottom surface and lowermost sides of shoes, boots and other footwear of persons walking over the mat.
Finally, the floor mat should be constructed so as to be easily removed to clean the accumulated dirt and debris under the mat or in the mat.
While displaying the characteristics and traits described above, it is still further desirable that the floor mat have a simple construction and utilize easily obtained and inexpensive materials.
While prior art rollable floor mats provide some of the characteristics described above, none provide optimal performance of all of these characteristics.
The invention provides an improved rollable floor mat for use in entryways to buildings or the like which provides optimal scraping action to remove dirt and debris from the bottom surfaces and lowermost sidewalls of shoes and boots of persons walking on the mat.
The invention further provides an improved rollable floor mat having a relatively simple construction using strong, durable materials which resist staining to thereby extend the useful life of the mat.
The invention still further provides a rollable floor mat having a firm, anti-slip surface to walk on.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.